Tour of Britain: Kooij and Van Aert score Jumbo-Visma 1-2 on stage 1
Sam Bennett rounds out podium in Manchester opener
Olav Kooij led Wout van Aert home for a Jumbo-Visma one-two on the opening stage of the Tour of Britain in Manchester, the pair beating out Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) in the sprint finish.
Van Aert provided the lead-out for his 21-year-old teammate with Edoardo Affini having dropped the pair off in a perfect position to sprint. The Belgian's final lead-out left Kooij with little work to do at the finish, and his power was such that he could still hold off Bennett to secure second place.
"The entire team made a good effort," Kooij said later. "It was quite difficult to get the break back – that was already quite an effort. Still, the team managed to get Wout and me through the last corner in first and second places. Then all I had to do was go full speed to the finish.
"The fact that everyone was so involved makes the victory even better. [Wout] is one of the best cyclists in the world. To have him as the lead-out gives a lot of confidence. You can trust that everything will work out."
Jumbo-Visma were among several teams working late on to catch the break of the day, along with Bora-Hansgrohe and Movistar.
The WorldTour teams eventually dragged back breakaway survivors Zeb Kyffin, Jack Rootkin-Gray (Saint Piran), and Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X) inside the final kilometres to set up a bunch sprint finish after Harry Tanfield (TDT-Unibet) and James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) had earlier dropped back.
In the end, it was the men in yellow of Jumbo-Visma who took control on the final run to the finish line, the strongest squad in the race showing their organisation and power to set up the lead-out.
The Van Aert-Kooij lead-out proved as unstoppable as it had looked on paper, with both men having more than enough to beat their rival sprinters on the flat run to the line. It was left to Bennett to trail in behind for a podium spot ahead of Max Kanter (Movistar) and Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) lined out behind him.
With his stage win, number eight of the season, Kooij takes on the first race leader's jersey of the week as well as the points and youth jerseys. With 16 points accumulated across the day from the break, Fouché is the first mountain classification leader of the 2023 Tour of Britain.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees How to Watch guides and works on The Leadout newsletter throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix and their favourite published article is from the 2024 edition of the latter: 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'It's not Strade Bianche' – Tadej Pogačar downplays demands of Giro d'Italia's gravel stage
Maglia rosa insists safety is the priority on the rugged road to Rapolano Terme -
'Just grateful I can still be a cyclist' - Michael Valgren back to his best in Giro d'Italia breakaway
Long road back from career-threatening injury sees Dane take second behind Benjamin Thomas in Lucca -
'The team were almost happier than me' - Benjamin Thomas secures Cofidis' first 2024 win at Giro d'Italia
Frenchman gunning for gold in Omnium this summer in Paris Olympics -
'The break was just incredibly fast' - Giro d'Italia sprinters miss out in Lucca as the breakaway steals the show
Milan laments lack of help from rivals teams as Groves suspects the race motorbikes helped the break